Undergraduate students in all majors are encouraged to consider IDCM. The combination of programs can be a great fit for multiple reasons:
- IDCM focuses on important contemporary issues with wide relevance. The program is geared around the major challenges of underdevelopment and instability observed around the world – and their intersections and interactions. The program emphasizes understanding of these challenges and activities to identify, design, and implement measures that are effective and responsible in bringing about positive, lasting changes.
- The issues on which IDCM focuses require interdisciplinary attention. The challenges are not just matters of economics and politics. Instead, they involve a wide assortment of topics, including regional contexts, demography, culture, religion, race and ethnicity, history, communications, data, and more. Professionals with complementary expertise on different topics often partner to tackle the complex demands of these challenges.
- IDCM draws students from across campus. The program regularly enrolls students from every college and school at UMD. The new IDCM cohort already has representation of students from over 15 majors. This diversity is purposeful, because of the subject matter and approach of the program.
- The content and style of education in IDCM gives students rich experience and practical, professional capabilities. IDCM is problem-oriented, practical, and pre-professional in orientation. Students collaborate in teams on projects, consulting with external clients, mentors, and stakeholders. Course activities are tailored with workplaces and jobs in mind, cultivating marketable, versatile skills.
- Multiple courses can fulfill both requirements of IDCM and requirements of majors. UMD policies enable students to double-count six credits of coursework for core requirements of programs. A substantial portion of the 16 credits of IDCM coursework can also meet requirements within many majors that students take several elective courses concentrated in an area outside the program (supporting sequence, cognate, upper-level division, etc.).
